Search form

TRENDING:

SPONSORED:

Fed proposal to protect weasel species from pot farms

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to propose protections for the fisher, a cousin of the weasel, due to threats from rat poison uses on illegal marijuana farms.

The Fish and Wildlife Service published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday, stating the full proposal to put the fisher on the Endangered Species list will go out on Tuesday.

ADVERTISEMENT

The protections will cover the species in Oregon, California and Washington, The Associated Press reports.

This is the second species federal biologists have officially recognized as threatened by marijuana production in the West.

The federal government is also researching ways the poison may be affecting the northern spotted owl.

Monday's notice also cites the shrinking forest habitat from wildfires, logging and development as a reason the fisher should be placed on the list. Disease, predators, illegal fur trapping and climate change are also causes of the fisher's decline.